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The Flat Consort
Matthew Locke

Fretwork

The Flat Consort

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Signum Classics
UPC: 0635212069622
Catnr: SIGCD 696
Release date: 14 January 2022
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Label
Signum Classics
UPC
0635212069622
Catalogue number
SIGCD 696
Release date
14 January 2022

"“The Flat Consort” by Fretwork on the Signum Classics label. Sublime!"

Stretto, 24-12-2021
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Artist(s)
Composer(s)
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About the album

Matthew Locke was born 400 years ago in 1622, and while he is often ranked as one of England’s finest composers, he is still unaccountably neglected: his music may not be as immediately appealing as his immediate successor, Henry Purcell, nor as wide-ranging as William Byrd, yet his forceful musical personality and luxuriant technique place him in the first echelon of English composers, with his works described by Richard Boothby of Fretwork as having a "quixotic, capricious restlessness that is constantly challenging the listener to follow his argument ... a thrilling musical ride". Accompanying Fretwork on continuo for this recording are David Miller (archlute and theorbo) and Silas Wollston (harpsichord).

The cover of the album bares an inscription in the walls by the choir stall of Exeter Cathedral, thought to have been carved by the composer during his time as a member of the choir there.

In 2021, Fretwork celebrated its 35th anniversary. In the past three and a half decades they have explored the core repertory of great English consort music, from Taverner to Purcell, and made classic recordings against which others are judged. Their recent critically-praised releases with Signum include If and Lamento – both with counter-tenor Iestyn Davies – and In Nomine 2 (★★★★★ BBC Music Magazine).

Artist(s)

Fretwork

In 2021 Fretwork celebrated its 35th anniversary. In these last three and a half decades, they have explored the core repertory of great English consort music, from Taverner to Purcell, and made classic recordings against which others are judged. In addition to this, Fretwork have become known as pioneers of contemporary music for viols, having commissioned nearly 50 new works. The list of composers is like the role call of the most prominent writers of our time: George Benjamin, Michael Nyman, Sir John Tavener, Gavin Bryars, Elvis Costello, Alexander Goehr, John Woolrich, Orlando Gough, Fabrice Fitch, Peter Sculthorpe, Sally Beamish, Tan Dun, Barry Guy, Andrew Keeling, Thea Musgrave, Simon Bainbridge, Poul Ruders, John Joubert, Duncan Druce & Nico Muhly. In 2010 they...
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In 2021 Fretwork celebrated its 35th anniversary. In these last three and a half decades, they have explored the core repertory of great English consort music, from Taverner to Purcell, and made classic recordings against which others are judged.
In addition to this, Fretwork have become known as pioneers of contemporary music for viols, having commissioned nearly 50 new works. The list of composers is like the role call of the most prominent writers of our time: George Benjamin, Michael Nyman, Sir John Tavener, Gavin Bryars, Elvis Costello, Alexander Goehr, John Woolrich, Orlando Gough, Fabrice Fitch, Peter Sculthorpe, Sally Beamish, Tan Dun, Barry Guy, Andrew Keeling, Thea Musgrave, Simon Bainbridge, Poul Ruders, John Joubert, Duncan Druce & Nico Muhly.
In 2010 they also curated a week-long concert series of concerts at Kings Place which culminated in the world premier of The World Encompassed by Orlando Gough, a 70-minute piece describing in musical terms Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe in 1577-80.
In 2011, The National Centre for Early Music, in collaboration with the BBC, hosted a competition for young composers to create a four-minute piece for Fretwork. They workshopped the shortlisted pieces at the NCEM in York in October, and then the winning entries were premiered in Kings Place in December 2011. In 2014 they concentrated on the music of John Dowland with a major tour of the UK with one of today’s greatest tenors: Ian Bostridge. They also spent a week in the Britten Studio in Aldeburgh re-working The World Encompassed to incorporate a spoken narrative drawn from contemporary accounts.
Slow: an In Nomine by Nico Muhly was premiered in 2015 at Kings Place in London, and they collaborated with celebrated actor Simon Callow in the revised version of The World Encompassed and recorded it for Signum Classics.
They celebrated their 30th anniversary with a star-studded concert at Kings Place in June 2016. They also recorded four new albums, including The World Encompassed, and later that year they made their longest tour of America, taking in the USA, Canada and Colombia.
In 2018 they performed and recorded a programme celebrating the music of Michael Nyman – who turned 75 in 2019 – with the exceptional counter-tenor, Iestyn Davies. In 2019 they toured North America with this programme.
That year they also began a series of concerts at Wigmore Hall, called Musick’s Monument, presenting the greatest English consort music from the Golden Age – six concerts ranging from Taverner to Purcell. The 2020 pandemic curtailed most groups plans and activities, and Fretwork saw its fair share of cancellations; but it was fortunate to receive support from Arts Council England’s Emergency fund, and then to be able to present a live-streamed concert with Iestyn Davies from the National Centre for Early Music in York, a programme of Dowland’s Lachrimae from Wigmore Hall and premier a new work by Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones in the Early Music Festival in Blackheath. They also pressed ahead with more recording once lockdown restrictions were eased.
They performed at Wigmore Hall twice in 2021, including a performance on Good Friday, the first from Wigmore on that date for many decades, of Johann Sebastiani’s St Matthew Passion. They have also been awarded a substantial grant from Arts Council England to continue and maintain the continuity of their work.
They premiered their new project, Albion, in Kings Place in November 2021. It is a reflection on English identity as seen through the musics of various ages and ethnicities. They invited ten composers – Orlando Gough, Yfat Soul Zisso, Sally Beamish, Gabriel Prokofiev, Sarah Dacey, Talvin Singh, Blasio Kavuma and others – to arrange iconic pieces of English music. This included works such as Overload by the Sugababes, Land of Hope and Glory, London Calling by The Clash, Sailing By by Ronald Binge and When All Is Said and Done by Napalm Death. These are then linked and amplified with live electronics, creating an impressionistic tableau that explores and questions English identity. While they used to fly all over the globe, they have now committed to reducing their carbon footprint by travelling in Europe only by train or electric cars - this year they have toured Germany, France & Spain, Austria & Slovenia in their two Teslas.


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“The Flat Consort” by Fretwork on the Signum Classics label. Sublime!
Stretto, 24-12-2021

Play album Play album
01.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 1 in C Minor: I. Fantazia
03:13
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
02.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 1 in C Minor: II. Courante
01:25
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
03.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 1 in C Minor: III. Fantazia
02:21
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
04.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 1 in C Minor: IV. Saraband
00:37
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
05.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 1 in C Minor: V. Fantazia
01:37
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
06.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 1 in C Minor: VI. Jigg
01:01
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
07.
Duo for 2 Bass Viols in C: I. Fantazia
01:36
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
08.
Duo for 2 Bass Viols in C: II. Fantazia
01:39
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
09.
Duo for 2 Bass Viols in C: III. Courant
01:35
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
10.
Duo for 2 Bass Viols in C: IV. Fantazia
01:26
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
11.
Duo for 2 Bass Viols in C: V. Fantazia
01:33
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
12.
Duo for 2 Bass Viols in C: VI. Saraband
00:54
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
13.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 2 in B-Flat Major: I. Fantazia
02:56
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
14.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 2 in B-Flat Major: II. Courant
01:42
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
15.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 2 in B-Flat Major: III. Fantazia
03:04
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
16.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 2 in B-Flat Major: IV. Saraband
00:52
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
17.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 2 in B-Flat Major: V. Fantazia
02:31
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
18.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 2 in B-Flat Major: VI. Jigg
01:16
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
19.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 3 in D Minor: I. Fantazia
03:36
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
20.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 3 in D Minor: II. Courante
01:34
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
21.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 3 in D Minor: III. Fantazia
03:01
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
22.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 3 in D Minor: IV. Saraband
01:49
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
23.
Duo for 2 Bass Viols in D: I. Fantazia
01:26
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
24.
Duo for 2 Bass Viols in D: II. Fantazia
01:13
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
25.
Duo for 2 Bass Viols in D: III. Courant
01:11
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
26.
Duo for 2 Bass Viols in D: IV. Fantazia
01:15
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
27.
Duo for 2 Bass Viols in D: V. Fantazia
01:14
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
28.
Duo for 2 Bass Viols in D: VI. Saraband
00:54
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
29.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 4 in B-Flat Major: I. Fantazia
03:06
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
30.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 4 in B-Flat Major: II. Gaillard
01:21
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
31.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 4 in B-Flat Major: III. Fantazia
03:37
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
32.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 4 in B-Flat Major: IV. Saraband
01:35
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
33.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 5 in A Minor: I. Fantazia
03:18
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
34.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 5 in A Minor: II. Gaillard
01:18
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
35.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 5 in A Minor: III. Fantazia
02:50
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
36.
The Flat Consort, Suite No. 5 in A Minor: IV. Saraband
01:42
(Matthew Locke) Fretwork
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Fantasia
Fretwork
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Pieter Wispelwey | Jean-Michel Charlier | Les Métamorphoses

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